Arctic fish and marine mammal populations up, birds down: report

Report sees "dramatic increases" in fish populations

NUNATSIAQ NEWS

MONTREAL — Arctic marine mammals, fish, and birds are undergoing some “surprising” trends that, in some instances, can be partially linked to climate variations and changes in commercial harvest, states a new report released by the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program.

Among the findings of the report, released April 23 at the International Polar Year conference in Montreal:

• overall, marine mammals increased across all ocean regions, levelling off in the mid-1990s;

• marine birds slowly increased until the mid-1980s, then in 1998 began a slow and steady decline, which may be the beginning of a longer-term decline. “It will be important to monitor this over the coming years;” and,

• three of the nine sea-ice associated species showed declines, ringed seals, belugas, and thick-billed guillemots.